Posts Tagged ‘Hardware’

The FPS-5 is Japan’s most advanced fixed radar installation in its ballistic missile defense system. Its distinctive tortoise shell-like dome covers have earned it the nickname ‘Gamera radar’ after Godzilla’s turtle-derived rival. Mitsubishi Electric produce the 34-metres high structures containing three antennae of between 12- and 18-metre diameter.

The FPS-5 prototype was constructed at the Ministry of Defense research facility in Iioka, Chiba Prefecture in 2004. At the end of 2008, the JASDF Shimo-Koshikijima Sub Base in Kagoshima Prefecture brought the first unit up and running, and the radars mistakenly detected a North Korean missile launch just a day before the Kwangmyongsong-2 satellite launch in April 2009.

The second came online in 2009 at JASDF Sado Sub Base in Niigata Prefecture, followed by the third in 2010 at JASDF Ominato Sub Base in Aomori Prefecture. Next year, the fourth FPS-5 should be up and running in the ASDF Yozodake Sub Base on Okinawa Island – it was originally scheduled to be completed in 2011, but this message from the base’s CO suggests otherwise.

The decreased weight addresses civilian concerns of wear and tear on public highways caused by transporters: as a result, the Type 90 can only operate in the Northern Army (covering Hokkaido) and the 1st Armor Training Unit, Tank and Ordnance Schools of the Eastern Army. By contrast, the Type 10 can be transported on conventional loaders, skirting the legislation that restricted its predecessor.

The key difference between this and the Type 90, however, is its C4I network integration. The vehicle is connected to the Main Regimental Command and Control System via the GSDF network, which allows crews to share real-time intelligence on an operational level with supporting infantry, not just within the armour unit itself. This unification of ground forces is familiar to US and British observers, and will hopefully pick up in Japan with the Type 10’s adoption. The crew commander also benefits from a computerised panoramic sight enabling him to select and prioritise targets through a touch screen interface.